Former Medical Examiner offers new insight on forensic dig in Heidi Allen case

<font size="2">Heidi Allen</font>

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:39:46 GMT —

Former Onondaga County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Jumbelic knows what investigators are dealing with as the search a collapsed cabin in deep woods in Mexico as they look into new evidence in the 1994 kidnapping case of Heidi Allen. Jumbelic says investigators are using a variety of tools, many of them very small, so they don't disturb the scene. "You need to know what you've found, and try to determine how it go there," Jumbelic said.

Human remains, particularly bones can remain intact for hundreds of years, Jumbelic says. Fibers, especially synthetics can also last a very long time. Jumbelic also cautions that there have been forensic digs in the past that have not turned up anything. "That is certainly a potential outcome," she said.